Vileyouths

Last Sunday I took my son to visit my parents in Airdrie, using Scotrail’s service from Edinburgh. On the return leg, just before Blackridge station, the train banged and shook as its front bogie crunched through an obstruction, maliciously placed on the track. It felt as though we came perilously close to derailing and when stopped at Blackridge we could hear the driver telephoning Control to tell them what had happened.

Just four days later, taking Lothian Buses’ route 25 home from work, a group of youths at the back of the bus ripped one of the plastic seat-backs off its mounting and one of them, following encouragement from the others, posted it through the open top-light of a window on the pavement side. One can imagine the consequences had either an elderly person or a baby in a pram or pushchair been unfortunate enough to have been on the pavement when that particular item came flying down through the dark and rainy sky and hit them.

These experiences suggest to me that there is currently an unfortunately large number of youths hereabouts who are desperately under-educated with regard to their social responsibilities and who take a perverse and reckless pleasure in deeply irresponsible and malicious behaviour. I suggest that it is only a matter of time before similar actions result in serious injury and death for innocent bystanders who by ill luck happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong moment. A profound change in attitudes must therefore be encouraged.

BRUCE PETER

Edinburgh